North Carolina officials worked Saturday to help residents return to their homes after Hurricane Dorian swamped parts of the coast with so much water and debris some communities were cut off from the rest of state.
The Outer Banks experienced catastrophic flooding as Dorian roared up the coast Thursday and Friday, blasting trees and structures with 90 mph winds, stranding thousands of residents and flooding homes.
At least two deaths in North Carolina have been connected to the hurricane: an 85-year-old man fell off a ladder while preparing for the storm, and a man suffered a medical emergency while securing his boat in a marina.
The governor's office said 200 people remained in shelters and about 57,000 had no power.
Hatteras Island remained unreachable because roads were blocked by sand and water.
"A checkpoint has been established to restrict entry to Hatteras Island," the Dare County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
Thirty-nine roadways in coastal communities remained closed Saturday, the governor's office said.
Gov. Roy Cooper surveyed the damage Saturday in Emerald Isle and on Ocracoke Island.
"Utilities are working hard to restore power and we want life to return to normal as soon as possible in eastern North Carolina," he said earlier.
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The storm, reduced Saturday by the National Hurricane Center to a "post-tropical cyclone," lashed Nova Scotia and gained strength as hurricane-force winds of up to 100 mph whipped by Halifax.
Winds toppled a construction crane into a high rise under construction in Halifax. No injuries were reported.
